Questions about feeding dogs a raw diet

[bock]

Thank you so much! You guys give awesome advice! I am very excited about making the switch! I am hoping it will help out a lot with my Chihuahua mix's terrible teeth and help keep my 10 year old lab mix young! I will certainly give them green tripe, I keep hearing how great it is! I know not to give them cooked bones, but I have never heard of turkey skin being a problem. Is it just turkey, or chicken skin too? Thanx!

I know what you mean about vets not *typically* being trained in nutrition. When we took our new kitten to the vet last year, we had an interesting conversation about nutrition with the vet. He seemed to think I was totally out of my mind switching from Purina to TOTW. He said I that I should stop listening to pet food companies and take a nutrition class. He claimed corn provided cats and dogs valuable carbs, and I should not waste my money. Then he tried to sell me a bag of Science Diet.....

I am not saying all vets are that way though, I simply have yet to meet one that is educated in nutrition. The real problem is the vet schools buying into that garbage and teaching it to their students. I am not trying to bash anyone here, if you have some accurate information to back up your opinion, I would be glad to listen.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
Dak -- could you please elaborate on your opinion here? I am not challenging you, really i am asking because I want to hear what you think. Raw feeding is a really hot-button topic, even a lot of Vets don't agree. Could you educate me here a little on your take?

 

[SourRoses]

Umm... hopefully one of the other raw feeders on here will better know what they are talking about, because I just can't seem to remember exactly what it is about turkey skin that is bad.. LOL! I only recall that others on the Jack russell forum were adamant about it, and thus my mom a little paranoid in the store, that no turkey cuts had any skin left on them. Someone *Please* correct me if I am wrong, but I vaguely believe there is some toxic property in the skin itself that dogs cannot process. But I DO know that chicken does not share this quality and it is perfectly safe. Though one lady on there did avoid all skins and fats, as her dog had an issue with them.
Sorry I wasn't a bit more helpful!
Ps- I didn't mean to sound so accusatory, to dak, and it's probably my fault that she doesen't want to further discuss this

Sorry dak.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I doubt turkey skin is toxic. Salmon skin is toxic, but salmon meat is ok. Maybe they are confused.

 

[Duck Keeper]

Don't feed too much liver though, or you could overdose your dogs on vitamin K.

I'd absolutely LOVE to get my dog on a raw food diet. Green tripe is apparently very stinky, but it's good because the partially digested "green stuff" (grass and things) will deliver even more nutrients to your pup. Chicken necks and backs are really good for them too, since they can crunch them up easily and eat the whole thing. My dog will only raid the garbage if we forget it out and there are... chicken bones. Even cooked ones.
They never bother him, though I get frustrated at the incredible mess he makes all through the kitchen while he's picking them out of the trash.

I guess it just depends on your dog as to which bones you can safely give them. Some dogs try to swallow them whole, others won't eat them (just the meat), and some will carefully gnaw the crap out of them. Like I said, it just depends.

My dog gets scraps all the time anyway, so I wouldn't worry about switching him to raw and back to kibble or anything, but some people make a point to feed their dog kibble once a week so they can still properly digest the corny junk food in case they have to be boarded or something. Some have their dogs fast once a week as well. I guess the fasting is because canines in the wild don't have food streaming in every single day. Makes sense to me.
Plus I guess not feeding once a week would be nicer to your wallet if you couldn't find cheap meat.

EDIT: Spelling

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Vitamin K, maybe that's what I was trying to remember the other night. Liver is super important to feed, BUT I think it's kinda hard to overdose them on liver because if you overdo it their poop will give you all the feedback you need to know!!

That's the thing about really taking raw feeding seriously -- you have to learn to read your dog's body's feedback. Loose poop generally means you need to up the bone content a tad bit, too firm poop means you overfed the bones without enough squishy stuff (which is why I pair something like chicken backs or pork neck bones with liver meals, for digestive/poop balance). On dogster there are a couple of spreadsheets about ideal meat/bone/organ ratios and stuff like that. I learned the "average it over a week" thing on there, which is why we'll have a liver meal usually once a week instead of trying to feed 5% liver every single day.
It's so much more than just putting out a bowl of kibble and "trusting" that their needs are met.

As for boarding there are several options. There is raw "medallion" foods that I've never seen personally, and at Petco there are some natural dog food that comes in a "roll" (like sausage) that I find suitable, and I've been known to grab a small bag of TOTW or a couple of TOTW cans if I only need a couple of meals. If you stick to a GRAIN FREE kibble it causes less digestive upset for a temporary switch (even though they have potatoes and stuff, they seem to cause less problems) The dogs generally view it as "treat" since it's not everyday ho-hum kibble to them.
When we go camping I simply put their meat in an airtight Tupperware thingy in the cooler that we are already packing anyway.